Gore-soaked Death Metal veterans Exhumed arrived at The Grove in Newcastle on the second date of a 26-show European run on the Echoes Of Red tour, stopping in North East England on 5 April before concluding in Madrid on 2 May 2026.
Exhumed – Gruesome – Coffin Mulch
The Grove, Newcastle – 5 April 2026
Words: Matty Hunter
Photography: thedailyddt at Vision Impact Photography
The Newcastle crowd caught the tour with all bands in incredibly fresh form, with Coffin Mulch opening the night, followed by Gruesome and headliners Exhumed. The latter two bands only started the run the day before at Lords Of The Land festival, where they played alongside the likes of Stamping Ground and headliners Anaal Nathrakh.
The Grove was the venue hosting the Easter Sunday show, a spot just outside Newcastle city centre which proved an ideal setting for the evening, with clear acoustics, fittingly dirty lighting, and no wasted space.
Coffin Mulch
Opening the night were Coffin Mulch, the Glasgow-based Death Metal outfit who have steadily carved out a name for themselves since their formation in 2018.
With a sound rooted firmly in old-school Death Metal, the Scots have a raw and driven urgency while channelling the grime and grit of the early ’90s tones with clear influence from that era in their output.
By the time they hit the stage just ten minutes after doors opened, marking their return to the city for the third time in as many years, a healthy crowd had already gathered.
Kicking off promptly at 7 pm, the quintet wasted no time launching into Infernal Mass, the penultimate track from their 2023 debut full-length Spectral Intercession.
As an avid Venom fan, I was happy to see drummer Ruaraidh Sanachan sporting a shirt with Cronos on the front with Black Metal emblazoned across it. He drove the performance from behind the kit with relentless intensity.
Up front, Alastair ‘Al’ Mabon, clad in a Carcass shirt, was a relentless presence, delivering impressive guttural vocals while commanding the stage as the band tore through their set. At one point, he even wrapped the mic wire around his neck, further showing the brutality of the music and adding to the atmosphere, all while keeping the crowd in the palm of his hand.
Equally impressive were the contributions of bassist Rich and guitarist Joseph Edward Kelly, with the former adding a thick, filthy undercurrent to the mix while the latter’s guitar work delivered that signature chainsaw crunch with ferocity.
A standout moment came during Into The Blood, which had a crushing tempo shift, the song dropping into a slow, suffocating passage before lurching forward again. The whole floor instinctively nodded along to the weighty pacing of this punishing track.
Closing with the self-titled track, Coffin Mulch, the band wrapped up a concise but impactful 30-minute set. Their performance was the perfect ignition point for the evening, and it certainly primed the crowd for the carnage that Gruesome and Exhumed would soon unleash.
Coffin Mulch’s sound gripped me. It was a raw Death Metal onslaught, and having only heard a handful of tracks beforehand, I am keen to see what they do next and hope to catch them live again soon.
Gruesome
Gruesome returned to the UK for the first time in nearly six years on this tour, and the reaction made it clear they had been missed. Formed in 2014 by Matt Harvey and Gus Rios, the band originated from the Death To All tours with the aim of honouring the legacy of Chuck Schuldiner and the early sound of Death, while creating original material rooted in that sound.
With three albums to their name, an EP, and a split release with Exhumed, the ever-present lineup continues to build momentum and show no signs of stopping.
At 7:50, the band were backed by a stark Gruesome logo backdrop and took to the stage as an ominous intro tape rang out across the venue, before the band launched into their set, wasting no time.
Vocalist Matt Harvey acknowledged that it had been some time since the band last played in the UK, expressing his excitement to be back. He set the tone by taking the crowd back to the early days, introducing Closed Casket from their 2015 debut, Savage Land, setting the tone for that raw, formative sound.
From that moment on, the crowd were fully locked in.
Gruesome wasted little time moving from song to song and powered through their set with sheer intensity. Harvey’s connection with the crowd was palpable.
What stood out from the outset was the sheer quality of the musicianship, especially the guitar work. The riffs felt nostalgic for the early days but also like a breath of fresh air, in a style that still resonates deeply with a live audience.
Daniel Gonzalez’s lead guitar work made the complex riffs look effortless, while Robin Mazen’s bass tone added depth, giving the set real weight. Meanwhile, Gus Rios was punishing behind the kit with tight precision throughout.
Mid-set, Harvey checked in again with the crowd. “So, is Death Metal alive in Newcastle? Is old-school Death Metal alive in Newcastle?” The response was immediate and deafening. Feeding off that energy, the band powered forward.
My personal favourite Gruesome track, Inhumane, was played later in the set, and its dynamic structure hit even harder, with each shift landing with impact, showcasing how effectively their material translates live.
The penultimate track, Seven Doors, is based on The Beyond by Lucio Fulci, not to be confused with the criminally underrated South-west based UK band of the same name, and it reinforced the strong horror element that their set carried.
Closing their set with Savage Land, the band delivered a powerful farewell. A fan favourite, it encapsulated everything that defines Gruesome: intensity, grit, and a deep-rooted respect for the genre’s foundations, keeping Chuck Schuldiner’s influence alive through a new generation.
They left the stage to a deafening appreciation, with many around me saying that it would take Exhumed a lot to beat that performance.
Exhumed
Since forming in 1990 in San Jose, California, Exhumed have remained a prominent name in gore-soaked Death Metal. Rising from the underground, they built their reputation through demos before breaking out with the cult classic record Gore Metal in 1998, which fused savage Death Metal with grindcore intensity.
Across ten records, including their latest, Red Asphalt, they have remained a consistent force. Despite a hiatus between 2005 and 2010, the band returned sharp, and today’s lineup of Matt Harvey, Ross Sewage, Mike Hamilton, and Sebastian Phillips is a formidable unit.
This run of shows marks their first UK appearance since June 2017 and their first in the city of Newcastle since April 2013. Fans had long been clamouring for Exhumed’s return, and they answered the call in support of their new record.
The tone was already set by the grim visuals, décor, and lighting across the setup before the band took to it. Flashing traffic cones adorned the stage, and two screens on either side showed gory clips reinforcing the band’s blood-obsessed aesthetic.
Shortly after, Exhumed exploded into Unsafe At Any Speed, backed by brutal car crash footage on the monitors, instantly pulling the packed room into their bloodthirsty world.
They then burst into the title track from the new record, Red Asphalt. Harvey addressed the crowd for the first time soon after, noting it had been a while and they intended to make up for lost time.
From that point, the quintet barely paused for breath, ripping through a career-spanning set.
Newer material from Red Asphalt featured heavily, with six tracks in total played. An early standout was Shovelhead, my personal favourite track on the record. Its opening riff is instantly gripping, and it locks you in immediately.
Cuts like Vacant Grave dug deeper into the catalogue, and it was during a stretch of the older tracks that the guitarists switched sides, and bassist Sewage stood right in front of me. I noticed dried fake blood smeared across his guitar, a subtle but telling sign of what was still to come in the show.
Two new numbers in Iron Graveyard and Symphorophilia sparked real movement in the pit, with bodies colliding as the band kept a relentless pace, barely allowing a second between songs.
Harvey’s nightly double duty across Gruesome and Exhumed is admirable. A workload that would test any front-person, it was one he handled with relentless energy.
It was towards the final few songs of the set that the theatrical element escalated. Sewage produced a severed head prop filled with fake blood, which he poured and threw into the pit before drinking it himself and letting it run down his face onto his clothes and guitar.
It was grotesque and an insight into what Exhumed are known for as a band so committed to their gore-obsessed aesthetic.
A classic encore chant of “one more song,” alongside ambitious shouts of “ten more songs,” brought the band back out.
Harvey orchestrated the crowd with several chants after the band returned, teasing the crowd with Utter Mutilation Of Your Corpse played twice, a blink and you miss it track akin to the infamous You Suffer by Napalm Death.
After a bit of camaraderie between band and the crowd, Exhumed then launched into a cover of Detroit Rock City, and as a huge Kiss fan, it was a welcome surprise to hear this rendition, along with many in attendance who sang along to every word.
The band concluded with the classic Limb From Limb from Gore Metal, with the crowd roaring the chorus, and the whole room moved in unison one last time.
A chaotic, blood-drenched finale left those in the splash zone of the pit soaked.
After such a long wait, Exhumed delivered a set that fully justified the anticipation. Hopefully, it is not another nine years before the band return.
I spoke briefly with Harvey and Sewage after the show, and both were genuinely humble, approachable, and clearly appreciative of the support, capping off an unforgettable night.
